Tis You Must Go, And I Must Bide
Title: Tis You Must Go, And I Must Bide
Characters: Eloise, Daniel.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers up to The Variable
Summary: Written for a_lost_art St Patrick's Day challenge, prompt "Danny Boy". Eloise realises it's time for Daniel to say goodbye to his childhood and begin his path of research.
As they had walked along the London street, Eloise hadn’t taken much notice of the singer at first, until Daniel had tugged on her sleeve and pointed in her direction. “Listen, Mommy. That’s like my name.”
“What do you mean?” Eloise had asked, before tuning in to what the woman on the corner was actually singing: “Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling…”
“It’s not exactly like your name, of course,” Eloise hastily said, “because no one ever calls you Danny. To me, you are Daniel.” She took him by the hand and led him away hastily before the singer could reach the line she knew was coming, the line that would remind her of the truth she was forced to face every day of her son’s life. “Tis you, tis you must go and I must bide.”
“Come on, Daniel,” she said as they walked away, “we don’t have time to listen to this.”
“But why, Mommy?” Daniel pleaded, dragging his heels and trying to pull his hand out of Eloise’s grasp. “We’ve got lots of time.”
“Daniel…” Eloise began, “I wish that we did.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel looked up at her and frowned.
“Nothing, Daniel,” Eloise hastily replied, realising that she had said too much. “I merely meant that we are going to be late if we stay to listen.”
After they were out of earshot, Eloise wondered why she had reacted quite so strongly. The song would mean nothing to Daniel beyond the similarity of the name, and come the next day, he would probably have forgotten the entire incident anyway. He was four years old; the day when he would leave Eloise behind was still several years away.
Yet Eloise knew that it must happen, because it had already happened. And she knew that there would eventually come a time when Daniel would leave her, would travel to the island where he would be killed at her hands.
She had wanted to put the day off for as long as she could - while Eloise had known that she was always going to have to steer Daniel towards his physics research, she had hoped that she would be able to allow him to enjoy his childhood a little longer. However, she now understood that this was not going to be possible. The time had come for Eloise to begin to encourage Daniel down the path of science, to dedicate his life to the achievement of changing time, so that Daniel could be saved.
The innocence of Daniel’s childhood was over. In a way, it felt to Eloise that she was saying goodbye to that part of her son’s life. Yet she knew that the alternative was saying goodbye to her son altogether.
Characters: Eloise, Daniel.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers up to The Variable
Summary: Written for a_lost_art St Patrick's Day challenge, prompt "Danny Boy". Eloise realises it's time for Daniel to say goodbye to his childhood and begin his path of research.
As they had walked along the London street, Eloise hadn’t taken much notice of the singer at first, until Daniel had tugged on her sleeve and pointed in her direction. “Listen, Mommy. That’s like my name.”
“What do you mean?” Eloise had asked, before tuning in to what the woman on the corner was actually singing: “Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling…”
“It’s not exactly like your name, of course,” Eloise hastily said, “because no one ever calls you Danny. To me, you are Daniel.” She took him by the hand and led him away hastily before the singer could reach the line she knew was coming, the line that would remind her of the truth she was forced to face every day of her son’s life. “Tis you, tis you must go and I must bide.”
“Come on, Daniel,” she said as they walked away, “we don’t have time to listen to this.”
“But why, Mommy?” Daniel pleaded, dragging his heels and trying to pull his hand out of Eloise’s grasp. “We’ve got lots of time.”
“Daniel…” Eloise began, “I wish that we did.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel looked up at her and frowned.
“Nothing, Daniel,” Eloise hastily replied, realising that she had said too much. “I merely meant that we are going to be late if we stay to listen.”
After they were out of earshot, Eloise wondered why she had reacted quite so strongly. The song would mean nothing to Daniel beyond the similarity of the name, and come the next day, he would probably have forgotten the entire incident anyway. He was four years old; the day when he would leave Eloise behind was still several years away.
Yet Eloise knew that it must happen, because it had already happened. And she knew that there would eventually come a time when Daniel would leave her, would travel to the island where he would be killed at her hands.
She had wanted to put the day off for as long as she could - while Eloise had known that she was always going to have to steer Daniel towards his physics research, she had hoped that she would be able to allow him to enjoy his childhood a little longer. However, she now understood that this was not going to be possible. The time had come for Eloise to begin to encourage Daniel down the path of science, to dedicate his life to the achievement of changing time, so that Daniel could be saved.
The innocence of Daniel’s childhood was over. In a way, it felt to Eloise that she was saying goodbye to that part of her son’s life. Yet she knew that the alternative was saying goodbye to her son altogether.